Unemployment rate falls again

November marked the third straight month of decline for the area’s unemployment rate, and the lowest it has been in more than a decade.

According to new numbers from Statistics Canada, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the Oshawa census metropolitan area, which also includes Whitby and Clarington, was at 5.3 per cent in November, down from 6.0 per cent the month before. This marks the third straight month of decline since August’s 6.9 per cent, and the lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate seen in the area since August 2004, when it was at 5.0 per cent.

Across the country, the unemployment rate was at 6.8 per cent, marking a 0.2 per cent decrease from the month before. According to Statistics Canada, since November 2015, overall employment rose by 1.0 per cent, or 183,000, with the number of people working part-time increasing by 6.4 per cent.